Industry News

Installation of solar photovoltaic set to hit a new record in 2013

Third quarter figures show investment a fifth down on the same quarter of 2012, as political will to decarbonise energy mix falters.

Global investment in clean energy was $45.9bn in the third quarter of 2013, down 14% on the second quarter of this year and 20% below the number for Q3 2012, according to the latest data on deals and projects compiled by research company Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

The latest figure makes it almost certain that investment in renewable energy and energy-smart technologies such as smart grid, efficiency, storage and electric vehicles will end this year below 2012’s $281bn – a total that was itself 11% down from the record established in 2011.

The third quarter data showed weakness almost across the board, with investment in China, the US and Europe all down on the equivalent period of 2012, the only region to show a rise in activity on both the quarter and the year being the Americas outside the US and Brazil, thanks to firm figures from Canada, Chile and Uruguay.

The main crumb of comfort in the figures is that installation of solar photovoltaic power capacity worldwide is set to hit a new record in 2013 – at some 36.7GW. But much reduced costs per megawatt mean that the dollars invested in that new capacity will almost certainly be below the equivalent for last year.

Michael Liebreich, chief executive of Bloomberg New Energy Finance, commented: “After the slightly more promising second quarter, we now have a very disappointing third quarter figure for investment. $45.9bn is still a substantial amount of money, greater than that invested in the whole of 2004, but the loss of momentum since 2011 is worrying.

“The latest setback reflects policy uncertainty in Europe, the lure of cheap gas in the US, a levelling-off in wind and solar investment in China, and a general weakening of political will in major economies. Governments accept that the world has a major problem with climate change but, for the moment, appear too engrossed in short-term domestic issues to take the decisive action needed.”